Paper Example. Business and Functional Strategies

Our company was able to perform better in the end because of the strategies we implemented. Initially, we were not in a good position and even thought the company was going south, but in the end by making some changes and functional strategies, we got better results. One specific strategy that helped greatly is designing a market plan for our Company. The leading question that we sought to answer was "How can we do better?" it was at this level that our group decided to work with the emerging and continuing problems to develop new ways that we would use to move the specific aspects of the business forward.

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The marketing plan addressed the issues of pricing, advertising, salary, and introduction of new products. We were able to figure out that if we slightly increase our unit price, the sales we make will be able to ensure bringing up of new models and it will also be that the product quality also improved as well as new features. The prices will also remain competitive and fair, hence earning a competitive advantage. Concerning advertising, we planned to use methods such as social media platforms, ads, and also television. We also planned not to have new hires from year 5 but as the year went on, we planned to hire more salespeople.

We also have a working plan for the introduction of new product models, quality and also features. We have a goal of introducing premium sound entertainment, which is quite loud with big bass and clean sound. Our three-year plan is to focus on R & D, which will allow us to attain new models before the other competitors. The plan also includes increasing the level of quality as well as features.

We also had a design to implement the functional strategies that were concerned about tactics that improved the function of the company in diverse ways. We had the functional purchasing and strategies for materials management that were inclusive of improving the quality of the purchase (Rothaermel, 2017). However, that will be done at a lower cost, will also include negotiating prices with vendors as well as making an analysis of the performance of the purchasing staff.

We also designed the functional production and operations strategies that wee inclusive of the concepts of marketing, management of the product life cycles as well as refining the produce mix (Chang, 2016). These would help in ensuring that there was appropriate resource allocation to the departments that needed them and that we would not run into unknown expenses and we would improve the products. Some of the other functional strategies that we put into place included those concerning distribution, product position, and also packaging. We designed great packets for our customers that are appealing to them.

The graph shown above describes the underlying sales that were made during the entire time from year 3 to year. Generally, there is a show of fluctuations. We could attribute that to the instability of the entire process since we did not know how to plan properly. However, there is an increase in sales towards the end of year 6. It was as a result of the business and functional strategies that we designed that helped us to focus on the needs of customers.

Group Decision-Making Process

There were 5 people in the group with different cultures and backgrounds. We have been meeting all through the working process. We meet with the other group members 5 times a week after class and used google doc and google slides. These help us to make progress on the work. We use the google documents to make reference to our work and consider better measures that we will use for the Company. Similarly, we also used excel and word for making statements ready.

We have faced problems in the process such as not being able to complete the financial statements in time because one member of our group did not complete his part. It was as a result of personal problems so we had to meet the professor in his office and get some extra help. However, in the end, we got together again and continued working. However, due to the issue of our colleague, some of us did more had to do more than others.

Every single decision that we made throughout the working time was done together as a team. We would consult each other so that we didn't have to make mistakes. We used a centralized structure because we needed one person to help us with the entire process and guide the directions we were supposed to take. Each week we made sure that we met the specific goal we had set. Generally, we were able to get along so well and be on the same page. Our discussions were made properly done and we did not waste any time at all.

References

Chang, J. F. (2016). Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. Auerbach Publications. Retrieved from http://sutlib2.sut.ac.th/sut_contents/H97660.pdf

Rothaermel, F. T. (2017). Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved from https://owet.pw/hosan.pdf